Family of 5-year-old boy with cancer stunned by cruise line’s ‘heartless’ response to request

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Courtesy: WNYW

Family of 5-year-old boy with cancer stunned by cruise line’s ‘heartless’ response to request

Courtesy: WNYW

LONG ISLAND, N.Y. (WNYW) – A family in New York says they were planning a great getaway when the unthinkable happened.

Nicolas Colucci, 5, and the rest of his family were supposed to go on a cruise on the Norwegian Breakaway on June 1.

At the end of May, he was rushed into surgery for a large cancerous tumor.

Doctors operated on his liver, gallbladder, diaphragm and lymph nodes.

“No 5-year-old should have to go through this,” Philip Colucci told WNYW. “This is heartbreaking as a parent. It’s a horrible experience for him.”

The family was forced to cancel their trip and wanted to re-book on a later date.

However, they did not purchase travel insurance and the company said it was too close to the departure date for anything to be done.

“I just never imagined, especially a company as big as Norwegian, that they would be so heartless, basically,” said Tara Colucci.

Norwegian Cruise Lines issued the following statement to WNYW:

“Our hearts, thoughts and prayers are with the Colucci family and we wish Nicholas a speedy recovery… We strongly encourage all of our guests to purchase travel protection insurance when booking a cruise so that they will be covered if a situation such as this arises. Our overall policy states that any cancellations made within 14 days or less of the sail date are subject to 100% cancellation fee. After reviewing the request of the Colucci family, we spoke with the family and explained that while we could not make an exception to our policy, we would assist them when they were ready to re-book their cruise.”

WNYW learned another popular cruise line reached out to the family to offer them a free cruise.